@mongster is a Manila-based activist, former Philippine legislator, and blogger/analyst of Asia-Pacific affairs.
The Philippine police has released some statistics confirming the extensive reach of the government’s “war on drugs.” Dubbed as “Project Double Barrel Alpha,” the anti-drug campaign is a top priority of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, who assumed power last July 1. Could this mean more deaths, arrests, police visits, and extrajudicial killings until […]
Written for The Diplomat Cambodia presented its human rights report before the United Nations Office in Geneva amid growing allegations that abuses are being systematically committed by state forces. The UN committee acknowledged that Cambodia has introduced some reforms in recent years, in particular land reform and registration of indigenous communal lands. But it also […]
Written for The Diplomat It is common for unpopular governments to be accused by their enemies of committing serious human rights violations such as murder and kidnapping, but it is not often that genocide is included in the charge sheet. Even notorious dictators who are assumed to be guilty of committing the most heinous crimes […]
Written for The Diplomat Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit went missing on March 12, 2004. Filipino activist Jonas Burgos was last seen on April 28, 2007. Lao development economist and educator Sombath Somphone disappeared on December 15, 2012. The search for these missing activists has become a campaign for human rights promotion, not only […]
Speech delivered in Hong Kong last July 21 during the Meeting of Parliamentarians of the Asian Alliance against Torture and ill-treatment organized by the Asian Human Rights Commission. Good afternoon dear friends and fellow human rights advocates. Mabuhay! On May 19, 2009 Filipino-American Melissa Roxas was abducted by suspected members of the military in a […]
Please visit the special page I created about Philippine Airport Terminals. I also edited my profile page The Philippines is often recognized by global institutions for its strong commitment to human rights. Indeed, compared with other countries in the region, where government critics are given insanely long prison sentences and media reports are heavily censored […]
The Laos files from WikiLeaks underscored the country’s underdevelopment, endemic corruption in the bureaucracy and the fragile state of its environment. But we already know that. What makes the cables interesting is the kind of frankness that we don’t often get to see or hear from diplomats’ public statements. For example, here’s how the US […]
